assignment the language of newspapers

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<b>THĂNG LONG UNIVERSITY English Department </b>

<b>ASSIGNMENT </b>

<b>THE LANGUAGE OF NEWSPAPERS </b>

<b>Student name: Nguyễn Ngọc Thùy DươngStudent code: A36039 </b>

<b>Supervisor: Lê Thị Tuyền, M.A </b>

Hanoi, November 2021

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<b>Part 1: INTRODUCTION </b>

Newspaper is considered as one of the most influential mass-media in the society due to the outspread extent. The language of newspaper is quite different from the other kind of language. Apart from the informative function, it has the influence in change the reader’s mind. Through the message encoded into news, people reading the text will have the attitudes varied by the way the language presents the things to them. Therefore, studying the language of newspaper will help us have the close insight into the functions of language as well as learn the way to master the writing skill efficiently.

Newspapers in Britain are divided into the broadsheets and the tabloids. Broadsheet newspapers are traditionally larger in size and more complicated, concentrating on political news, while tabloids are smaller and usually simpler to read, containing the main news stories, celebrity news and human-interest stories. The broadsheets are often known as the “quality press” included The Times, The Telegraph, The Scotsman and The Guardian. Tabloids include the Daily Mail, The Daily Express and The Sun.

Two articles, one from “The Scotsman" and one from “The Sun”, have been taken into consideration to find out the differences between two types of newspaper: broadsheset and tabloid. They are about Britain could face lockdown again as Cabinet Secretary Boris Johnson has confirmed masks, work from home and vaccine passports are all options in his Winter Covid Plan if a vaccine-busting variant arrives from abroad. The assignment is focus on examining the different techniques that each paper employs to represent the same issue in term of the headline, photograph, use of language and quotes and the efficient of these techniques in determine the distinctive features between broadsheet and tabloid.

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<b> Part 2: ANALYSIS </b>

<b>1. Headlines: </b>

According to Newspaper Headline KS2, headline is the text at the top of a news which is the first thing readers see. It plays a decisive role in whether readers choose to read them or not. Therefore, the headline must be persuasive. It is used for news articles, blog, advertisements, etc.

When it comes to creating amazing content, the headline is the single most important factor and the only impression you can make on an Internet surfer that can convert them into a potential reader, therefore “it is so critical to create headlines that will grab the attention of the audience you are trying to reach”, stated by ClickGiant (2015).

Next, headline has 19 types, but the most common type is Direct and Indirect headline. A Direct headline clearly states the purpose of an article. It usually involves facts in the article to summarize the overall idea. Readers know exactly what they are going to read or see when you use a direct headline while the Indeed Editorial Team (May 7, 2021) stated the Indirect headline that “it takes a subtle approach by hinting at the main point of an article. Since it doesn't directly state the key idea, it targets a reader's curiosity to discover what the article is about”

In the case of the two articles, both of them are put in form of full sentence with the use of direct quote as the distinctive point. The headline of “The Scotsman” is clear and informative.

“Britain could lockdown again as Boris Johnson confirms masks, home working and booster jabs all options in Winter Covid Plan.”

This headline uses the simple present to express a past event confirms. Besides, to verb is changed into noun “jabs”. The headline is followed by a sub-head by Alexander Brown which qualify more information for the headline.

“Britain could face going into lockdown again as Boris Johnson has confirmed masks, home working and vaccine passports are all options in his Winter Covid Plan.”

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While “The Scotsman" uses the headline have clear title with detailed sub-head to cover the basic facts of the story, “The Sun" presents it only in the headline with the complex sentence in structure. However, it is still highly informative.

“VACC OF CONCERN Britain will be plunged back into another FULL lockdown if vaccine-busting Covid arrives, Cabinet minister warns ”

This headline uses present simple tense “warns” to describe a past event. Moreover, it uses punctuation “another Full lockdown” to emphasize. The headline is followed by a sub-head by Nick Gutteridge.

<b>2. Photographs: </b>

The selection of photograph must also be considered as the techniques of these papers in capturing the reader’s attention. The eye tends to be drawn by the headline first, then the photograph. Therefore, each paper has used the size and position of the photographs to try and communicate a desired response from the reader and attach meaning to the relating story.

The pictures are shown in different contexts in two newspapers with “The Scotsman” and “The Sun”. “The Scotsman” uses picture of the individuals involved to help readers visualize the content of the article easily. The position of photographs is Britain's Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty (left), Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) and Britain's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance (centre) walk towards the door of No.9 Downing Street. The function of photographs to complement and closely related with the message of the headline.

In “The Sun”, there are significant differences in the display of photograph. The article uses images taken from a news program " Sky News". In the image is "Environment secretary George Eustice warned the UK could face another full lockdown". The function of photographs to illustrate the content and title of the article, make it easy for readers to visualize the Minister's warning.

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<b>3. The lead: </b>

The lead is the sentence or paragraph which grabs the reader’s attention and inspires the reader to read further. The lead also establishes the subject, sets the tone and guides the reader into the article. According to Zinsser, a good lead is aimed at giving a reader the overview of the story and tells the reader why he/she ought to read the article. Thus, it is very clear that with only one sentence, the lead of this article is still very informative and helps clarify the headline which makes the readers absorbed into the article.

Both articles have a clear and give a lot of information such as: What, Who, Why, Where, etc.

In " The Scotsman", the article has the lead is "Britain could face going into lockdown again as Boris Johnson has confirmed masks, home working and vaccine passports are all options in his Winter Covid Plan." With only 1 sentence, the article gives a lot of clear information for readers: It focuses on what?

What: lockdown, Winter Covid Plan. Who: Boris Johnson, Britain. Why: confirm masks, home working, vaccine passports. How: options. Where: British.

In "The Sun", the article h the lead is " BRITAIN will be plunged back into as "another full lockdown" if a vaccine-busting variant arrives from abroad, a Cabinet minister warned today." Normally, the use of capitals in a headline is very common in tabloids; so, the writer succeeded in applying this method to make his article more attractive and eye-catching. This lead emphasizes on “What” - Britain. The structure of this lead is S V O.

What: Britain, another full lockdown, vaccine. Who: Cabinet minister. Why: a vaccine-busting variant arrives. Where: Britain, abroad.

In short, the two above leads are reported in different ways but still ‘eye-catching’ and make readers interested in the articles. It seems that the lead of 'The Scotsman' more of an announcement and confirmation whereas the lead of ‘The Sun’ seems to be more warns.

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<b>4. Quotations:</b>

Two newspaper articles are mainly constructed from direct and indirect quotes of problem about Britain could lockdown. The selection of these statements concerning epidemic Covid-19. It helps the article more informative and truthful. Both articles use many quotes, mainly the direct quotes of ministers. Due to the clash of aims of a tabloid and broadsheet, the technique is used differently. While “The Scotsman’’ an extremely complete and details on epidemic response measures, “The Sun” fairly clear but not succinct and incoherent, has some advertising, has parts that distract readers unnecessarily. The broadsheet uses it to inform, state the fact accurately and completely. In contrast, the tabloid uses it to sensationalize the reaction of the readers. While both of the broadsheet and the tabloid follows a highly structured organization of the information in term of the answer to the main Wh-questions, the tabloid is structured mainly around the most emotive and shocking points.

In 'The Scotsman', power quote:

Speaking at a Downing Street Press conference, Mr Johnson claimed the measures would "give us the confidence that we don't need to go back to the lockdowns of the past." He said: “The result of this vaccination campaign is we have one of the most free societies and one of the most open economies in Europe.

“That’s why we’re now sticking with our strategy. In essence, we’re going to keep going.”

He said: "As we did with the road map, we never looked to one single metric to decide when to act.

"It is important to take a holistic approach and consider a range of data." The Prime Minister unveiled a series of contingency measures that could be imposed in England at short notice in the event of cases spiking. Who did unveil a series of contingency measures? The Prime Minister. When did unveil this measure? That could be carry out when the covid cases increased sharply.

These power quotes express contingency measures of the authorities.

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In contrast, in 'The Sun', it is newworthy because it was published on17 Sep 2021 and today is 21 Sep 2021. It is about a long-term phenomenon and it is still value in the future. However, the article h objective, is clear but not concise. as

In the body, there are many power quotes. For example: "Arguably the biggest threat to the travel industry is that we do get another variant the vaccine can't deal with, then we're into another full lockdown”.

In addition, the new has some part that annoy the readers, there are some advertisement. For instance: “Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest updates”, “MOST READ IN THE SUN” distract readers. The articles also have a Poll for readers to vote SUN POLL Do you expect the UK to go into lockdown this winter? The voting : section is confusing and controversial for readers.

<b>5. Languages: </b>

It cannot be denied that language plays an important role in helping people communicate effectively with the others. Henry Sweet, an English phonetician and language scholar, stated: “Language is the expression of ideas by means of speech-sounds combined into words. Words are combined into sentences, this combination answering to that of ideas into thoughts”. Thanks to language, we can interact with different people in other places, countries or continents more conveniently.

It should be noted that language is not only a substantial tool in communication, but language is the core of the newspaper as well. The language used in newspapers is call written language which tends to be more formal than oral language. Written language is more likely to provide standard language. In addition, it must be employed appropriately so that the readers can catch the messages correctly. In the news, the journalist has to pay attention in words choice, grammar use as well as the length of sentences. Everyone also should avoid foreign words or too scientific term in writing so that the readers can read the article without misunderstanding.

It may be claimed that broadsheets have many features in common with formal and written language, whereas tabloids present a highly spoken and informal style.

‘The Scotsman’ is aimed at the readers interested in political, financial or other international issues or events. The article is also use formal languages: informative language. This is typical of broadsheet article. a

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On the other hand, a tabloid again has an eye-catching, controversial presentation to attract more readers. It is admitted that ‘The Sun’ is published for readers that may or may not be highly educated; hence, its language used tends to be syntactically simple and usually easy to understand. In this the article uses bold, colored and underlined words a lot. It uses abbreviation: they'll, we've, That’s, aand it uses too many statements to quote direct speech.

<b>Part 3: CONCLUSION </b>

In conclusion, it shows the significant diversity between tabloid and broadsheet in all analyzed aspects: the headline, photograph, the lead, quotation and languages. The cause of the difference is due to the presentation and the writer's use of word. Both type of newspaper has successfully satisfied their aim by using the different techniques efficiently.

Due to the lack of specialized knowledge in the field, I just give the fundamental analysis of the matters but not able to go into the details of concrete fields. Besides, the paper cannot avoid some mistakes because of limited time and knowledge. Hence, I would be very grateful to receive the comments as well as the suggestions from people who concern with the study.

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<b>APPENDICES </b>

Link 1 <b>:</b> -boris-as johnson-confirms-masks-home-working-and-booster-jabs-all-options- -winter-covid-in

Britain could face going into lockdown again as Boris Johnson has confirmed masks, home working and vaccine passports are all options in his Winter Covid Plan.

By Alexander Brown

Tuesday, 14th September 2021, 6:11 pm

The Prime Minister unveiled a series of contingency measures that could be imposed in England at short notice in the event of cases spiking.

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Earlier the Health Secretary Sajid Javid laid out a five part plan to keep cases down, with a Plan A and Plan B.

Beyond the outlined contingency plans, the document containing the plans revealed a fourth lockdown remains a possibility.

Britain's Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty (left), Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) and Britain's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance (centre) walk towards the door of No.9 Downing Street. Picture: Dan Kitwood-WPA Pool/Getty Images

Speaking at a Downing Street Press conference, Mr Johnson claimed the measures would "give us the confidence that we don't need to go back to the lockdowns of the past."

He said: “The result of this vaccination campaign is we have one of the most free societies and one of the most open economies in Europe.

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